Custom Character - Gen 3 Clone?

MelissaGT

Hi there! I'm relatively new to DAZ, and I'm usually pretty good with figuring technical stuff out...but I've hit a roadblock on a couple things. I've been trying to recreate characters as part of fanart, and one character in particular has rather unique facial geometry in the form of brow stalks and bone spurs along the jawline. My initial thought was to try and sculpt Gen 3 and create morphs, however I am also very new to that concept. I know that I cannot alter the geometry in any way and be able to load the morph back into DAZ. But upon sculpting with zBrush (I'm new there too, but learning), I noticed that just tugging and pulling the existing geometry where I wished resulted in...not so nice pixelation in DAZ later. The topography was just too stretched. I want to -add- geometry using the dynamic capabilities in zBrush. Ideally, I want to slice the specific topography from the in-game model and sculpt it right in (because that looks the best and keeps me as accurate as possible to recreating my loved in-game character). I was able to do this with zBrush, and the model looked great...however, as you can imagine, that also broke my ability to load the alterations as a morph. 

So, I moved on to the next step. Or thought. Or possibility? This character body is still Gen 3 in shape. 100%. I was able to use the Transfer Utility to get my customized character rigged up and working as far as facial expressions and posing. That was relatively easy, because this is a character that is for all intents and purposes, Gen 3 with just a few bone spurs added onto the face (in terms of shape). UV mapping and everything works - I just have to create new groups for the geometry I added (that's the least of my concerns at this point - I just want to get this guy working mechnically first). What I can't for the life of me figure out...is how to fit my catalog of clothing to him. I was hoping there was a way to make the clothing just follow a Gen 3 clone or something...because like I said, his shape is that of Gen 3 (obviously customized using proprietary and purchased morphs from the shop). Is this a possibility? Is there a way to make DAZ recognize this as a Gen 3 character? It should be noted that this is for my personal use completely and in no way will be shared. I just want to make fanart. 

I've attached a screenshot of them side-by-side (Gen 3 to the "No Longer Gen 3" character). I still need to fix the UV mapping and work on the rest of his face, but as I said, I won't even bother if I can't get all this to work. But at least this gives an idea of the geometry and how close they are. I just really don't want to have to live with a stretched-looking morph, but I will if I have to. 

Thanks bunches!

Leana

Since you altered the mesh and rerigged it it can't be considered as a morphed G3 anymore. It might be possible to create a G3 clone for this "new figure", using the same method as for creating one for G3 (there should be a tutorial somewhere in the forums for that)

However if all you did was alter the face you might try transforming your new face into a geograft that you could use to replace the face on a "real" G3 character, rather than using a whoke new figure.

MelissaGT

Leana said:

Since you altered the mesh and rerigged it it can't be considered as a morphed G3 anymore. It might be possible to create a G3 clone for this "new figure", using the same method as for creating one for G3 (there should be a tutorial somewhere in the forums for that)

However if all you did was alter the face you might try transforming your new face into a geograft that you could use to replace the face on a "real" G3 character, rather than using a whoke new figure.

All of the tutorials I've read regarding the creation of clones involve using the Morph Loader, which because this is no longer a DAZ figure, I can't use. Unless there's a tutorial I haven't seen...I've been digging around Google all day. 

I went back to zBrush and tried sculpting directly on the mesh again to make a morph using GoZ, however the problem is there aren't enough polys to sculpt with, even with dynamic subdivision. I can subdivide up to 2+ mil and then I can sculpt all day til the cows come home and make those brow stalks perfect with all the little details...however, when I turn the subdivision back down and then port it back to DAZ, all of that detail is gone and I'm left with round nubs. 

The other path I tried was making a geograft of just the brow stalks. However, when I tried loading it onto the character, it wouldn't fit correctly. When I selected "fit to", it would float over his head. When I fit it manually, if I remember correctly, expressions didn't work properly. 

MelissaGT

So far this is the best I've been able to do with a morph from zBrush. It's not bad in the realm of things, but when compared to the actual character I'm trying to replicate, I can't seem to get enough delicate linework into the brows because there aren't enough polys to grab onto. As I said, if I subdivide up, I can sculpt away and make them finely detailed...but that detail doesn't translate into DAZ when you turn it back down. 

MelissaGT

Ok, I made even more progress. Having the PolyFrame turned on helped immensely with being able to grab and re-grab the same vertex -